Alaro redefines Sacramento’s beer scene

Alaro Craft Brewery is arguably producing some of the best beer & food at a brewery in Sacramento, but how?

Our Beer – Alaro Craft Brewery’s passion for well made, classic beer styles goes against the current trend of flavored & one-off novelty beers.  We value elegance over gimmicks and believe that great beer is achieved only through skillful design, talented execution, continued refinement and an uncompromising commitment to using only the best ingredients available.  Local partnerships include:

• Admiral Maltings – known for locally producing exceptional, hand-crafted & freshly kilned malt using the traditional art of floor malting from sustainably farmed organic barley grown right here in the Sacramento Valley.  Using this local, handcrafted malt deepens our story of regional beer character, terroir, the farmers who grow our barley.
• UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program – Healthy agriculture is fundamental to our quality of life in California and we have partnered with the UC SAREP to test several varieties of Sacramento grown barley in commercial beer production.  We support their commitment to strengthening California’s agriculture by advancing knowledge of the science of sustainability, supporting Sacramento farmers to develop more sustainable agricultural practices.
• California Beer Farms – Sacramento hop farmers and creators of Lupulin Hash in which Alaro Craft Brewing was the first brewery to develop the brewing techniques to use in commercial beer production.

Our commitment and hard work is paying off as in just over a year since opening, Alaro is one of the heavily awarded breweries in Sacramento with Regional, State, National and International awards for our beer including multiple awards for our flagship beer, the Castillo IPA, arguably one of the best IPA’s made in Sacramento.

• 2018 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) competition – Castillo IPA won a Gold Medal for the for English-Style India Pale Ale at the largest commercial beer competition in the history of the world with 8,496 entries. At just two months old, Alaro became the youngest brewery ever to win a Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival!
• 2019 California State Fair Commercial Beer Competition- Castillo IPA won a Gold Medal for the for English-Style India Pale Ale and the only brewery in Sacramento to win an award for an IPA at this competition this year.
• 2019 North American Beer Awards International Beer Awards Excellence in Brewing N.A.B.A. – Adrianna Vienna Lage won a Bronze Medal for Vienna Style Lager.
• 2019 Amador County Fair Commercial Beer Competition – La Boheme Pilsner won 1^st Place for German Pilsner.
• 2019 Amador County Fair Commercial Beer Competition – Aragon Altbier won 2^nd Place for Altbier
• 2019 Amador County Fair Commercial Beer Competition – Castillo IPA won 3^rd Place for Specialty IPA.
• 2019 California Craft Brewers Cup Commercial Beer Competition – Castillo IPA won Gold for English IPA.
• 2019 California Craft Brewers Cup Commercial Beer Competition – La Boheme Pilsner won Bronze for Pale European Beer.
• 2019 California Craft Brewers Cup Commercial Beer Competition – Rabbit Hole Saison won Bronze for Classic Saison.

Our Food – With a goal to produce the best beer & food at a brewery in Sacramento, Alaro Brewing Company has curated one of the most unique & critically acclaimed menus found at a brewpub anywhere. Gathering together to share food & drink is the most communal and binding tradition in the world and Alaro’s food program was designed around this concept. Our Spanish-inspired menu is flexible yet sophisticated enough to intrigue even the most discerning food critic. The food is vibrant, delicious and varied, everything from small plates meant to be shared to creative seafood dishes and Paella. Classic pub fare is not ignored either with a sublime burger & elegant grilled cheese sandwich, fried pickles, wonderful salads and even organic soft serve ice cream. The salty, smoky flavors of Spanish food, not to mention the role of tapas as the famous original small plates, make it a perfect match for beer.

Our Space – With Sacramento’s evolving contemporary culture, Alaro Craft Brewery’s warm, masculine, and sexy, industrial chic style defines Midtown.  Utilitarian in design with worn textures and warmth, old brick, reclaimed woods, galvanized metal, stainless steel & glass keeps the shapes and silhouettes relatively simple.  Large steel I-beams support an elevated metal grid catwalk above bar and cellar.  High steel bow truss & wood ceilings arch overhead. A long stainless-steel bar, reclaimed wood tables and a 20′ high-top community table fills the space.  Large windows provide views into the fermentation room and serving cellar.  Local artists created front signage, interior & exterior murals and handblown glass lighting that elevate and warm the space.  With a mix of both industrial and hand-crafted design elements, this intimate but casual 90-seat dining room captures the surrounding urban cityscape and channels an airy setting just blocks from the State Capitol.

The History – Owners, Ray & Annette Ballestero realized the importance of preserving the brewhouse and history of Sacramento’s first craft brewery and that is why they worked so hard to keep it all together and restore it with care. “With our proximity to the UC Davis Masters Brewer Program and our historic brew house, so many craft beer enthusiasts & professional brewers have ties to this location and that is a piece of local history that should not be lost”, says Ray Ballestero.

Our Values – Equally important is their commitment to not only Sacramento’s “Farm to Fork” movement but to “Fair Trade” and all it stands for. They know that Sacramento’s strong “Farm to Fork’ Capitol is ideal for forging relationships with growers and sourcing some of the best seasonal and locally grown agricultural products available, but they believe that sustainability, fair labor practices and human rights are equally or even more important.  Annette, with her background in Fair Trade has applied these principles to an industry not necessarily known for this.  “We utilized several of the artisan groups that we have established long term working relationships with to see how we could apply their products in our new business”, says Annette Ballestero.

• Our handmade & hand-painted ceramic plate-ware is sourced from a Fair-Trade cooperative in Tunisia that provides a living wage and exceptional working conditions.
• Our T-shirts & Staff Aprons are not only made from Organic cotton, but they are certified Fair Trade to be sure that there is no forced labor in an industry known for unfair labor practices.
• All our craft sodas, tea, coffee and sugar are certified Fair Trade.
• Our dining room, back bar and tables were made from sustainable & locally reclaimed wood and our beautiful dining room lights are made from hand-blown glass from a local CA glassblower.
• We source as much as we can locally, then ethically & Fair Trade globally.